Strategies to reduce fall severity after a perturbation during ladder climbing.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beschorner KE ; Pliner EM ; Seo NJ
• Description:
  Background: Falls from ladders remain a significant cause of workplace injuries. Purpose: Collective biomechanical responses associated with minimizing fall severity were investigated. Methods: Secondary analysis. In a laboratory, a perturbation of a ladder rung (simulating a misstep) was applied during ladder climbing of healthy adults. Hand and foot placements after the perturbation were characterized by whether they would be anticipated to improve fall outcomes (based on a previous analysis). The number of beneficial fall recovery factors (i.e., high upper body strength, optimal hand placement, reestablished foot placement) on fall severity was assessed. Underlying temporal mechanisms of hand and foot placement response were further investigated. Results: Participants recovered from a perturbation better if they achieved a greater number of beneficial fall recovery factors (e.g., optimal hand placement and reestablished foot placement vs. either alone). The optimal hand placement was achieved when the hand moved prior to the climbing perturbation toward the next rung (2 rungs up) during ascent, and when the hand regrasped the original rung (did not move to the next rung) after the climbing perturbation during descent. These strategies were associated with faster hand-rung contact after the perturbation. Reestablished foot placement was more likely to occur when more time was allotted before foot-rung contact. Conclusions: Combining fall recovery strategies of a higher hand hold for higher upper limb strength and reestablishing the foot with control may be strategies to maximize recovery from a fall from a ladder. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Biomechanical Phenomena Ergonomics Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Ladder Fall; Biomechanics; Hand; Upper Limb; Strength; Foot Slip; Perturbation Falls; Ladders; Biomechanics; Biomechanical Engineering; Upper Extremities; Ergonomics;
• ISSN:
  2472-5838
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Atlanta Region [OSHA] ; Denver Region [OSHA] ; Pennsylvania ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA] ; South Carolina ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070306
• Citation:
  IISE Trans Occup Ergon Hum Factors 2024 Nov; :[Epub ahead of print]
• Contact Point Address:
  Erika M. Pliner, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
• Email:
  erika.pliner@utah.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Performing Organization:
  University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20200801
• Source Full Name:
  IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors
• End Date:
  20240731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248319/cdc_248319_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]